- Gogo della Luna
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Today a 12 years old has asked me: "A lot of people seem to be very angry. Is anger useful?" This made me think: can anger be positive?
There are some linguistic terms that are born negative but maybe have a tiny streak of positiveness in them. My young friend's question made me wonder...
greg dahlen 20+
Kate Blake 50+
Pabitra Mukhopadhyay 30+
Kate Blake 50+
Maybe its our use of the word but I believe wrathfulness is a better term to apply to those examples where we have controlled wrath or righteousness about certain situations and this propels us to act constructively in order to resolve the situation.
Anger itself is usually way out of control, it disturbs our peace and harmony within and erupts like a volcano spreading harm and pain on others that they really don't need. Anyone who claims that they can control their anger .. This I doubt very much. As Lover says below going into our anger when alone, checking where it comes from, why it arises, how to recognise its explosiveness is most useful to learning how to harness it.
Stepping away before we explode, attending to real wrath for social situations that endanger others but not in an angry explosive manner can achieve healthier results.
Gail . 50+
I make a BIG distinction between emotions and feelings. Emotions are body-oriented. They produce chemicals that course through our bodies. One who is sad has certain chemicals in tears. One who is anxious is raging cortisol, and if one is afraid, add adrenalin to the mix. Great JOY also has its chemical components.
Feelings have no chemical counterpart. Feelings are more like a universal language than they are emotion.
Imagine if anger was used as the tool for personal development that it can be: Something leaves me emoting anger. I go someplace quiet to reconnect with the uncorrupted self. I find the mistake in the beliefs. I remove it. When the belief is discredited, then any situation that WAS based on that mistaken belief (and MANY are) will no longer cause offense. This leaves me investing FAR less energy in being miserable and far more time to invest in satisfying adventures.
The hardest belief that I had to throw away was the belief that I was powerless and therefore could be victimized.
Most people have never dared ask themselves about their own anger. They have never personally explored it. What does anger feel like if you allow yourself to experience it (while alone) and then internally observe the experience. I can tell you from experience that it is not a painful experience. It's only painful when fear is involved. Anger is a manifestation of fear.
george lockwood 20+
Pabitra Mukhopadhyay 30+
Mark Kurtz 10+
I notice a very high percent of TED conversations---questions, ideas, and debate topics involve human relationships. Your 12 year old acquaintance wonders why people are angry. That is a topic for a conversation in itself!! "Can anger be positive?" Yes, if controlled. Righteous indignation is useful when it propels people to act for change for what they see is needed improvement. This can be positive. Self restraint and living a life of masterful modeling moves humankind to higher quality civility. Dangerous anger can take us the opposite direction.
So a conclusion could be that getting angry over the right things at the right time with enough people can result in positive change. How would we know what is right? Only fools would willingly follow another fool. Therefore discretion, honest assessment, and patience while being angry over a situation or condition would more likely be positive and beneficial. Being a "hot head" leans more to foolishness than righteous respect and measured responses to others involved.
Keep thinking!
Feyisayo Anjorin 50+
Leo Taylor
Second, Anger from an evolutionary standpoint can be "positive" It was needed to survive and gave a boost of adrenalin to fight off a predator or an enemy. In that case, anger was very positive and perhaps still has a place in this world. However, over the last 5,000-10,000 years our social structure has evolved faster than our genetic structure, so in a society that relies on rules and interactions, anger can be considered negative.
I believe it still has a place and perhaps will be evolved out of us (or genetically modified out of existence). At the moment it is interesting to watch its uses and I would like to explore what we as a species would agree is a productive use of anger. For example, when the world was made aware of what we happening in Egypt a few years ago we were angry enough to say "this must stop" but we were also calm enough to hold back violence.
Michael McWatters
That said, feeling anger or rage should be a signal that we need to look at the source of the anger, determine how valid our emotional response is, and direct our actions accordingly.
Acting solely from a place of anger is dangerous, but understanding that anger can be a sign that something is really wrong and needs to be corrected is essential.
Salim Solaiman 50+
Gogo della Luna
Salim Solaiman 50+
Referring to the situation mentioned above, people like me who get angry are also not devoid of love factor. They love the victim of the situation , so get angry against the person / organization that is doing the unjust.....
What about mass public disobedience against tyrrany ?
What do you think about that ?
Gogo della Luna
AMOR OMNIA VINCIT....